RC Racing TV ‘IFMAR in 2024 – What’s going on with 8th Buggy’ video & interview

Carlos Gomez, EFRA Section Chairman for 1/8 buggy and former IFMAR Board member, answers some questions for RCTV. Ranging from the 2024 World Championships to the possibility of a 5th IFMAR member bloc (?) – you can hear it all straight from the source! Here’s an automatically generated transcript of the video content:

RC Racing TV: Thank you for joining us. There’s been a lot of talk online about why the nitro buggy worlds was canceled in Brazil. Can you tell us about that?

Carlos Gomez: Yeah, I can. Just about 15 days ago, I received a phone call from Brazil, from FEMAR, about to have a meeting with the organizer from Sao Paulo. They have already contacted me in order to be the speaker of the of the event in Portuguese, English, Spanish. And then I thought it was for that, the meeting.

And then suddenly the meeting was that the organizer has decided to withdraw his candidacy, to retire because there’s a lack of permits from the town council to the use of the complete park where the premises are. They have a premises for one hundred people, but not for 180 plus all mechanics, all everything like that.

So he asked permission to use more land and the permit never have arrived. And it has gone more than one year. No, no, no positive answer. So at six months mark, he said they cannot go farther with this. And then one month to the event say, no, you don’t have the permit. That would have been even worse. So a six month mark.

He said, sorry, I have to stop. I cannot go farther than FEMAR opted to present this alternative venue South and Buenos Aires. And that was not the of the like of the several of my books. So it was not chosen and so that it came backwards. Suspend the rule so as to offer lots of people want to understand why the events going back to Redovan.

RC Racing TV: Can you explain the decision process?

Carlos Gomez: Okay. And the decision process, we didn’t we an EFRA has been the be okay. We did receive five candidacies out of five candidacies. Three had the problem of the limit of the fuel because those countries cannot run over 16 (percent fuel). And even my rule says that the the fuel amount, the amount of need from the fuel must be 25 percent or up to 25 percent.

So we cannot limit the right to the people who use it, the right to drive on 25, not to drive this 25. So at the end, out of the five, only two European were able to that were Barcelos and Redovan. So we have a meeting with more EFRA had a meeting with five more. Like one week after the announcement from, from Brazil and we put forward two.

If more of the two names is as we have a perfect candidate, both of them. And it was handed to said Barcelos has already the one eight electric buggy for the next year. So Barcelos is not. And then it was only relevant for me. It’s that I actually those are the two top facilities ready for anything at top level.

For 180 drivers we felt ended up with a good organizing team, with a good knowledge of everything like that, and the rest have the inconvenience of the fuel, which is a big inconvenience.

RC Racing TV: And the buggy World Cup is just as a handful of drivers. That must be devastating for the host club. Is the IFMAR World Cup role good for the sport?

Carlos Gomez: Okay. The mandatory run off. If my World Cup in about in front of an event has proven here to be a problematic scenario, it is actually on my list of work for this year to put forward a proposal in my to take out the mandatory character of the pre World the of the of the World Cup in front of a new class.

If the class is already a firm I’m a stable all over at least two of my continents or two of my blocks. Better to say blocs than continents. So it’s on my list. And I do agree it can be problematic for the organizer.

RC Racing TV: Yeah, there has been a lot of changes with IFMAR, and you are no longer on the board. Firstly, did you leave? And secondly, can you give us your view on what’s happening?

Carlos Gomez: If my right now. Okay, actually I am not the liaison officer of IFMAR until July. I am working closely with the actual IFMAR board in order to finish the accountancy and everything from the past year. So the transition will be easier and and will be done properly at the new board in IFMAR, I think it will be work in the benefit of the sport like it’s always have been done.

It is not easy to understand how if more works they have to. We met in the old times when I was there. We met every month in some meetings. I think they are doing the same in the same basis. They are meeting, they are having the duties on the table. Who is doing that, Who is doing that, taking responsibilities and all that.

I assume it will it will work exactly the same. Then majority of their members in the board that meetings a little the the approach to them to the rules or anything like that. Uniform rooms is one of the aims we do have a for to take and let you know I’m I’m going to try to put in the name of a FRA through get rules to be consistent rules all over the world and mostly be set on ROAR rules.

So two blocks will be in line most probably in order to that. And out of the two, probably the four will be in line. And then that’s good for the industry, good for the drivers and good for the racing as well.

RC Racing TV: We heard rumors that the BRCA applied to be the fifth International Federation in IFMAR, do you know anything about.

Carlos Gomez: No, absolutely not and they can’t as per the rules that’s on the rules. They can’t do it. That’s it. That’s for my knowledge. That’s a reading on the on the rules. That’s it. And the rules are published for everyone. But nevertheless, BRCA is a turned to stable member of the federation and has been that for many, many years. Actually, I think they are majority on the board of every British man. I don’t know how many, I don’t know maths on that but there welcome always.

Source: RC Racing TV